By Anna Gustafson for the Pennsylvania Independent.
Broadcast version by Danielle Smith for Keystone State News Connection reporting for the Pennsylvania Independent-Public News Service Collaboration

It was the second week of April, and Beau Baden didn’t have time to think about tariffs. 

While President Donald Trump’s chaotic on-again, off-again rollout of tariffs on imported goods were indeed weighing on Baden, he was busy getting ready for the fourth anniversary of Sherman Street Beer Company, the Allentown brewery he opened in 2021 after dreaming about owning his own place for decades.

Baden says he expects he’ll likely have to pay more for the hops he imports from all over the world and the aluminum cans that are essential to his business as a result of Trump’s planned tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods and services paid to the federal government by the businesses or consumers that are importing them.

But in the days leading up to the anniversary celebration, he was thinking more about the upcoming event’s beer, food and Mrs. Roper Romp, when community members don their best curly red wigs in honor of the beloved minor character from the television sitcom “Three’s Company.”

“When all this is happening, we’re getting ready for a fourth anniversary,” Baden said in an interview on April 15, following the celebration. “I’m stressing about that more than I’m worried about anything else. We’ve got a lot of people that are going to be coming into our building, coming to our place. We want to make sure things are right and people have a good time and everything like that.” 

It was indeed a good time, Baden said. There were Mrs. Ropers galore, and the brewery was packed with people drinking newly released beers, having a pig roast, and eating Maryland crab pretzels. 

Then reality hit. 

“I wasn’t that worried. Now, today, as 20,000 cans showed up, I’m worried about that bill,” Baden said. 

He has yet to see the invoice, but Baden expects there to be an increase after Trump imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum entering the United States that went into effect on March 12.

It’s not just the cans he’s worried about. Baden, whose brewery employs 10 people, imports hops and malt from countries around the globe, and while he doesn’t currently need brewing equipment, that too would likely come from other countries when he did.

Trump’s rollout of tariffs has left business owners like Baden not only worried about the financial impact of the taxes on imports but often unclear as to what imports will be or are being taxed. 

“I keep up in the mornings and, then, by the afternoon, I’m completely confused that what I heard in the morning is not the same as what’s going on in the afternoon,” Baden said. “It’s all anecdotal right now, but at the end of the day, any cost increase for us is not great. Breweries, like restaurants, you work on slim margins.”

After announcing increased tariff rates for goods from most of the world on April 2, including major trade partners like the European Union and China (as well as islands inhabited by penguins and no humans), Trump ended up temporarily reducing most of those rates after stock markets tanked. He said he planned a 90-day pause on implementing the tariffs originally announced on April 2, a day Trump called “Liberation Day.”

He went on to implement a 10% tariff rate on most imports coming into the U.S., a lower rate than was originally announced for many countries’ goods but one that economists say will still hurt U.S. businesses and consumers.

Trump has also escalated the trade war with China. He increased the tariff rate from 104% to 125% on most goods from China, which retaliated with higher tariffs for U.S. goods. China is the United States’ third-largest export market after Canada and Mexico. The U.S., meanwhile, is China’s top export market.

Economists explain that the increased costs business owners face due to tariffs are often passed on to consumers, who may soon be paying more for a wide range of goods, including coffee and fruit, cars, lumber, and pharmaceuticals. Because the U.S. doesn’t have the infrastructure to immediately, or ever, begin making and distributing many of the items it imports, business leaders and economists warn of impending shortages of goods like generic drugs and electronics. 

While the Trump administration says tariffs will lead to companies moving operations to the U.S. and an increase in the number of manufacturing jobs, experts say that isn’t actually the case. A CNBC survey of businesses found that if companies did increase the number of manufacturing jobs in the U.S., they would use automation and not humans in those positions.

Economic pain for Pennsylvania’s breweries

Baden is far from the only brewery owner who’s worried about tariffs. Brewery owners throughout the state say the current and possible future tariffs are causing financial concerns for Pennsylvania’s craft beer industry.

About 530 craft breweries make their home in Pennsylvania, which has the third-highest number of craft breweries in the country, according to 2023 data from the Brewers Association, a trade group. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration recently reported that the commonwealth’s ranking has risen and that the state is now the second-largest craft beer producer in the country.

Small-brewery owners facing increased costs for cans and other goods may have to increase the prices of beer they sell to their consumers, business owners told the Pennsylvania Independent. However, following the inflation that stemmed from supply chain disruptions during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and with the possibility of a coming economic recession, owners said they’re not sure how much of a price increase consumers will accept, leaving breweries to figure out how much they will potentially be able to absorb in costs.

“We’re going to have to probably eat it for this year, for 2025, and then reevaluate going into 2026, whether it’s talk to our partners, our contract partners, and explain what situation we’re in and what we need to do, how do we become more efficient?” Baden said. “You don’t want to change the product to make an inferior product, so there’s not a lot of wiggle room on that end. We’ll see — are we in a recession or not a recession? We don’t know yet.”

Jeff Fegley, the owner of Brew Works in Bethlehem, said he’s worried about the financial hit tariffs his business could take. Fegley’s is a brewery and restaurant that’s helped to revitalize downtown Bethlehem in the wake of the decline of the steel industry that once dominated the area. Fegley also owns a Brew Works in Allentown.

Fegley said he’s holding out hope that the Trump administration won’t further raise tariff rates. If it does, small businesses like his will suffer, Fegley said. 

“I hope they can get through this because the consumer ultimately is going to pay,” Fegley said. “We can’t absorb it all. So we’ll have to raise prices. And I think right now, the restaurant industry as a whole is seeing kind of flat sales. If these tariffs continue, I can see it declining, restaurants declining in sales because people will be less likely to go out and spend as much as they would if they didn’t have this increase in costs.”

For now, Fegley said, they’re waiting to see what happens at the end of Trump’s 90-day pause on significantly increased tariffs.

Fred Maier, the co-founder and vice president of Susquehanna Brewing Company in Pittston and the president of the Brewers of Pennsylvania, a trade association, also lamented the economic uncertainty. Just last year, he was hopeful that the industry’s finances were finally steadying after a rocky period due to the pandemic. Then the new administration took office.

“2024 was the first year that supply chain was normal,” Maier said. “I knew when I ordered something what it was going to cost me in one month or three months from now. It was wonderful.”

“I kind of stuck my foot in my mouth saying, You know what? Everything’s pretty steady,” Maier continued. “And that was in the beginning of January. I’m like, I’m not seeing anything major this year. And four weeks later, it all started.”


Anna Gustafson wrote this article for the Pennsylvania Independent.


get more stories like this via email

In Colorado, 83 workers were killed on the job in 2023, according to the AFL-CIO's latest "Death on the Job" report.

The report comes after the Trump administration eliminated the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the nation's only worker safety research agency. The agency worked with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect workers from asbestos, lead, black lung and more.

Jason Wardrip, business manager for the Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council, said OSHA regulations have saved more than 700,000 lives.

"These things are written in blood," Wardrip stressed. "Every regulation in OSHA is because somebody has been injured or perished. Because this has happened -- somewhere, somehow -- in the world."

Nationally, more than 5,200 workers were killed on the job and more than 135,000 died from work-related diseases in 2023.

Colorado's relationship with organized labor, which has historically advocated for worker safety over profits, has been mixed. Lawmakers strengthened child labor protections in 2023 but Gov. Jared Polis plans to veto a measure which would remove barriers blocking workers from joining a union.

Workers of color continue to be most at risk of injury or death. Latino workers are 26% more likely to die on the job. In 2023, 659 Black workers died, up from 653 two years earlier.

Shane Wittstruck, communications specialist for the Colorado AFL-CIO, said OSHA is not well-funded enough to protect those workers.

"It would take 185 years to inspect every single workplace once," Wittstruck pointed out. "Right now their current budget only amounts to less than $4 to protect each worker."

Wardrip is especially displeased that cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health were made by billionaire Elon Musk.

"Somebody that has never had to work with their hands, ever, has decided to start stripping hardworking people's ability to stay safe, and have regulations governing their safety on the job site," Wardrip asserted. "That's really gross."


get more stories like this via email

Solving North Dakota's child-care crisis is taking another turn, with adoption of a new tax credit.

The incentive is geared for employers who make contributions toward their employee's child-care costs.

Gov. Kelly Armstrong has signed a bill that allows employers to claim a tax credit of 50%, for child-care stipends they might offer as part of a benefits package.

Bill supporters say it might convince more businesses to meet the needs of staff members with young kids.

Bill Bauman, CEO of the Missouri Valley Family YMCA in Bismarck, said he hopes it'll be effective in removing stress on the child-care system by keeping parents in the workforce.

"It's so vital to our economy," said Bauman, "our community, our workforce and our families."

The YMCAs are collectively the largest provider of child-care services in North Dakota, and Bauman said they've seen progress in closing gaps based on 2023 investments from the state.

Other organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce agree that previous steps have helped.

But officials note some solutions have limitations, pointing to age and income eligibility levels under the Working Parents Child Care Relief Program.

Bauman credited policymakers for continuing to monitor how these efforts are playing out, and whether they need to try something new.

He suggested it's going to take additional time to measure the effectiveness of new programs and incentives.

"Some are highly utilized and others maybe not as utilized," said Bauman, "so you have to be able to adjust."

According to a 2024 North Dakota business survey from the Chamber of Commerce, 69% of respondents indicated that child care was an issue for their organization.

A similar percentage indicated support for this type of incentive to help recruit and retain workers.



get more stories like this via email

Thousands are expected to rally in Harrisburg on Monday for a "Raise the Wage and Immigrant Rights Day of Action."

More than 47,000 Pennsylvania workers earn the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or less.

Jarrett Smith, legislative director for the Service Employees International Union, said Pennsylvania hasn't raised its minimum wage in more than 15 years, while more than 30 other states and Washington, D.C., have all moved toward $15 an hour.

Smith said this makes it harder for the state to stay competitive.

"We are demanding that we raise the wage in Pennsylvania to $15 an hour," he said, and "that we include a cost-of-living adjustment so that we don't have to keep coming back, year after year."

Smith said the coalition Pennsylvania Stands Up is leading the protest, backed by labor and community groups and some lawmakers.

Two years ago, the House passed a bill to raise the state minimum wage to $15 by 2026, but the Senate hasn't acted. Smith said Gov. Josh Shapiro has pointed out it could bring in up to $60 million a year in tax revenue.

Smith said it's key to distinguish low-wage from minimum-wage workers. Nearly 1.2 million Pennsylvanians earn wages less than $15 an hour, and many are single moms. He added that these workers often support families, pushing the state to cover gaps with programs such as SNAP and Medicaid.

"When we talk about how do we actually lift workers out of poverty," he said, "one of the things that you can do is raise that floor and give families the financial independence to actually earn a wage that's going to allow them to not have to make decisions between paying a grocery bill or getting health care."

Smith noted that Pennsylvania is losing workers to neighboring states with higher minimum wages, making it hard to keep a strong workforce.

"We are one of the fastest-shrinking states in the Northeast," he said. "New Jersey, across the border, they have a $15 minimum wage to start, and they're already increasing it for certain workforces, like health care and education."

He added that SEIU represents around 80,000 service workers in the state, across industries such as government, health care and food service. The union is also negotiating its first national Starbucks contract.


get more stories like this via email